Intermediate Russian: What’s the difference? FOR + length of time: на неделю vs. неделю

This video is for students who study Russian as a foreign language at the university. It discusses the difference between time expressions indicating “for a length of time”: НА + Accusative vs. Accusative. Includes enough examples in context. Recommended for students of the intermediate level.
Watch the video: What’s the difference? FOR: для, за, на, в, к • Intermediate Russian I...
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[@beckygreenberg4283]

Офигительно! The best explanation of the topic EVER. Always before they confuse the issue with either motion vs place or intention. А теперь ЯСНО. Thank you.

[@kavehkushi3661]

Hello Olga! Thanks for the great video. After so many years of studying Russian, finally, I understood the difference. Your approach in separating them in two distinct groups is really ingenious. Your examples are as always great! And you are one of the greatest Russian teachers, if not the greatest, I have ever seen! Thank you for helping us! Большое Спосибо!

[@AmazingRussian]

Khosrow , спасибо Вам огромное! Очень лестно получить такой комментарий от профессионала. 😊

[@JagdishJP-gl2jq]

Very clear nice explanations, last I have considerably improved my understanding of usage of words and sentences...Very Good Job..my interest in Learning Russian has increased, because of your very good videos...My Appreciations please. Атльчно Супер

[@SoeMinnThein]

I really thank you. This is my most happening mistake in Russian Grammar

[@mohammedal-hammadi5085]

Русский язык очень интересный и лёгкий с вами, спасибо большое

[@AmazingRussian]

Мухаммед Саад , спасибо Вам. Я рада, что вы так думаете.

[@simontolson285]

You are amazing Olga, you make it so clear with great examples, thank you so much.😀👍

[@AmazingRussian]

Simon Tolson , thank you for always watching my videos and leaving nice comments.

[@umarjulaev7337]

Спасибо за уроки!

[@paolomemo1826]

When I watched your previous video on all the possible translations of "for" in Russian, I suddenly saw all of the forms I had met in my studies without ever getting the complete picture. Now you're making everything about their use quite clear. I feel being brought to an upper level of understanding and competence. Great lessons, thank you!

[@AmazingRussian]

Paolo Memo , спасибо. Очень рада, что это видео помогло.

[@paolomemo1826]

@@AmazingRussian Все Ваши видео мне всегда помогают: я думаю что Вы являетесь одним из самых лучших преподавателей Русского языка в мире, и что всем вашим студентам очень повезло.

[@davina7108]

As always: excellent video Olga! Clear and easy. Keep going! Thank you!

[@AmazingRussian]

Daniel Aviña , спасибо. Doing my best.

[@maraj8215]

I'll come up with an example (I think I got the hang of it): Я смотрела несколько видео в KZbin пару часов, а потом я уехала из дома на полчаса. Спасибо за другое отличное видео!

[@AmazingRussian]

Спасибо, Mara. Всё правильно. 🙂

[@elenashadrina9933]

Спасибо за еще одно отличное видео! (This sounds more natural. Thanks for having interest in Russian. :-)

[@MK-jc6us]

Very clear and cool exercises at the end. Thanks!

[@mohammedsurge]

Здорово.... а вы удивительная женщина... большое спасибо от сердца.

[@AmazingRussian]

mohammed , спасибо.

[@profaneangel0842]

Spasibo bolshoe Olga. Russian in "bite-sized pieces". Great work! 👌👏👏👏

[@RezaAminyan]

Отлично спасибо

[@RobertDLN]

это просто просвещение для нас! Огромное спасибо.

[@AmazingRussian]

RobertDLN , очень рада. Спасибо.

[@abdurahmanjares2980]

Спасибо большое за видио урок🙏 Это было очень полезно и а вы очень самая хорошая прекрасная👍 преподавательница. Желаю вам счастья и успехи.

[@AmazingRussian]

Abdurahman Jares , спасибо за прекрасные слова. Очень трогательно!

[@michikos44]

Спасибо вам большое!!!!!! Я давно не понимала ,что на и без на. Но всё ! Я хорошо понимала✨ Спасибо ещё раз 💕

[@AmazingRussian]

Michiko Segawa , очень рада, что вы всё поняли.

[@spanishconconsciencia23]

Kак всегда здорово видео. Я успелa это понять, наконец. Большое спасибо ,хорошей недели

[@AmazingRussian]

bielka mua , спасибо. И Вам всего доброго! 😊

[@af-bd6em]

6:06 она ездила в россию две недели. that means , she had keeped moving for two weeks. right? for example, one person lives in spain, and one week, spend all time for going to russia and another week, spend all time for returning from russia.

[@AmazingRussian]

виолончель фортепиано , I would say «Она была в России две недели.» or «Она ездила по России две недели.»

[@chadandrews98]

Thank you for clarifying this ! (Я изучаю русский язык самостоятельно. Я слишком старый для университета)

[@AmazingRussian]

Chad Andrews ,😄. Учиться никогда не поздно. Спасибо, что смотрели видео.

[@DickG714]

Thanks!

[@j.mhelndrn4545]

Great . Thanks alot

[@AmazingRussian]

j.m helndrn , welcome.

[@peterchiu7484]

спасибо, сейчас я понимаю разницу между ними

[@AmazingRussian]

Я рада, что понимаете.

[@marklavelle3227]

Какое полезное видио. Простой вопрос--о длительностю какого действия хочешь говорить? Если хочешь говорить о длительностю движении, то не добовлай "на" (мы гулаем два часа--без на). Если хочешь говорить о длительностю действия, который следует движении, то подобовлай "на" (мы ходили в кинотеатр на два часа).

[@idrisajecha7997]

Yes I am

[@aymanmorris1990]

thanks for the video , it's simple we use the same way in arabic language

[@AmazingRussian]

Ayman Morris , интересно!

[@aymanmorris1990]

ваши видео всегда очень интересны

[@AmazingRussian]

Ayman Morris , спасибо за то, что всегда смотрите их. 😊

[@aymanmorris1990]

honestly you have the best channel for learning russian on youtube

[@AmazingRussian]

Ayman, мне приятно, что ты так думаешь.

[@SteveMallen]

Really useful, thanks Olga. These time expressions are tricky... If I want to say I am going to do something after a period of time, do I use после or через? Maybe you have a video on this already? Большое спасибо!

[@AmazingRussian]

Спасибо! I need a specific expression in English to answer the question. После десяти лет (after 10 years); через десять лет (in 10 years). Unfortunately, no video on these time expressions yet.

[@SteveMallen]

@@AmazingRussian Thanks! My example is "I bought two speakers, but decide which I'll keep after a week" I suppose that's через? Seems like a subtle difference...

[@AmazingRussian]

@@SteveMallen , yes, in this context - через неделю.

[@eliaseliasi2246]

круто :) отлично просто :)

[@AmazingRussian]

elias eliasi , спасибо.

[@xatyl]

In Arabic and also in Hebrew, we have the same principle, so today's topic was easy, but still, the repetition on reading and listening bilo ochin palezna dla minya kak bsigda

[@AmazingRussian]

tal , спасибо. Очень рада, что было полезно.

[@tuppybrill4915]

Off topic I know but as this is a brand new video you are more likely to see this comment than on an old one - I was reading a study book and it talked about the great and varied use of 'prefixed verbs of motion' (chodeet and eedtee

[@AmazingRussian]

Tuppy Brill , no, I have not done prefixed verbs of motion. Maybe in the future. Thanks.

[@tuppybrill4915]

Amazing Russian - Thanks for your reply (don't you sleep?!), it looks a really interesting topic as those words seem to be embedded in so many other words and they seem to form a function a bit like 'to be' in English if you know what I mean, ' I am cold', ' I am hungry' - it almost seems like the equivalent type of construction would be if English had words like 'hungeram' or 'coldam'. Thanks for the lessons anyway.

[@AmazingRussian]

Tuppy Brill , interesting observation. Спасибо за комментарий. 😊

[@kyleropp6634]

I was hoping you could explain to me why at 9:37 you use the word было and not был? I understand that negative statements are governed by the genitive case, but why would the ending on the verb change? Is it just a rule for verbs corresponding with его, even though he's still masculine?

[@AmazingRussian]

Kyle Ropp , не было (in the past) and не будет (in the future) does not change when it is used with the genitive case: его не было, её не было, их не было, нас не будет, его не будет.

[@kyleropp6634]

Thanks!

[@nicolasfauvel5934]

Olga's reply does not address your question about the gender of было, Kyle. I'll attempt to do so (and I'm happy to be corrected!) In a sentence such as "Его не было........." "его" is not really the subject of the verb. The sentence is actually an impersonal verb construction. In English we also use such impersonal constructions very frequently: "there is/are......", "there was/were....", "It is/was......." The "there" and "it" in such constructions don't refer back to some specific person(s) or thing(s), rather to some undefined subject. They are called "place-holders" because they just "hold the place" of the verb subject. Russian does not use such "place-holder" words, rather it just uses the verb alone and the (unexpressed) subject of the verb is considered to be neuter - if you wish, you can think of "it". A direct syntax translation of "Его не было в аудитории пять минут" would thus be "Of him (there/it) was not in (the) classroom (for) five of minutes". The point is only obvious in the past tense, because the verb then shows the agreement with its subject for gender (in the singular), but it's the same for the future tense: "Его не будет......" is actually "Of him (there/it) will not be......" You can now see Olga's point: "Их не было......" is "Of them (there/it) was not..." and "Нас не будет....." is "Of us (there/it) will not be....." The verb is in the neuter singular, because it refers to this impersonal subject "there/it". The pronoun in the genitive is actually the predicate of the verb "was/will be". The same argument holds for the present tense, but, as you know, Russian with it sensible economy of words does not usually express the present tense of "to be". Thus "Его нет" might be syntactically translated as "Of him (there/it) is not". To elaborate a little more on impersonal verb constructions: you will often seen a verb in the 3rd person plural without a noun or pronoun as the expressed subject. This corresponds to the English impersonal construction "They........". For instance, "Говорят, что......." translates comfortably into idiomatic English as "They say that......", but "В квартире выключили электричество" is not so obvious. Although we can use a "they....." construction, such sentences are often translated into English with a passive verb construction, i.e. "The electricity was turned off in the apartment", whereas a more literal translation would be "(They) turned off the electricity in (the) apartment." It is very tempting to see "электричество" as the subject of the verb, in the nominative, whereas it is actually the direct object in the accusative. The misunderstanding is reinforced because the nominative and accusative have the same form in this example. A rather detailed reply, but a useful one, I hope!

[@maxbruno5127]

Спасибо за урок - можно также использовать "за" в выражениях времени? Заранее спасибо.

[@AmazingRussian]

max bruno , да, можно. Например: за два часа, за две недели, за два года. Значение: потребовалось столько-то времени для чего-либо ( it took a certain amount of time to do something). Я выучил русский язык за два года. Я прочитал книгу за два дня. В этом видео тоже есть примеры: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gV6klI1thqucZqM

[@maxbruno5127]

Да! Вот именно что я имею ввиду! Спасибо...

[@tofinoguy]

If we consider the sentence, "They can wait a week", there is no action, only the capability of performing the action. How would this be translated? Also, how does "течение" fit into all this? Thanks.

[@AmazingRussian]

Glen MacPherson , the sentence is translated as “Они могут подождать год.” The preposition “в течение” means “during a certain period of time”. There is almost no difference in meaning between the following sentences; 1) Они ждали год. (for a year) 2) Они ждали в течение года. (during the year). Hope it helps.

[@tofinoguy]

@@AmazingRussian Thank you very much!

[@thinkerly1]

+5

[@AmazingRussian]

thinkerly1 , спасибо. Вы не нашли опечаток? Как приятно! 😊

[@sunving]

Thank you

[@yousefheidaryturkamaani108]

☘🌹

[@stevensimpson9880]

Do you teach Russian via Skype per chance? This is so helpful!

[@AmazingRussian]

steven simpson , I am starting in May. Contact me through Facebook: @AmazingRussian2015.

[@mastersvision8497]

Спасибо большое.. русская грамматика самая трудная..помогите меня

[@AmazingRussian]

Vani Ganesh , да, согласна, что грамматика трудная. Мои видеоролики - это моя помощь всем, кто изучает русский язык. Удачи.

[@mymusic4947]

Hnenyuk,Is it Russian Name? Is it feminine or masculine name?

[@AmazingRussian]

Sadiq Hussain , is it related to the video? It could be the last name, but it is NOT the first name fir sure. If it is the last name, it is for both genders.

[@mymusic4947]

Thanks, Yes it's last name and kindly tell me Is it a Russian name

[@AmazingRussian]

Sadiq Hussain , most likely, it is Ukrainian, not Russian.